Come to the meeting on 9th March 2016 and make your views known!!
Wednesday 9th March 2016 from 7.30pm to 9pm
Holy Trinity Church, High Street, Guildford, GU1 3RR.
Campaigners and local residents have been pressuring Surrey County Council to hold public consultations on the desirability and nature of any changes to Newlands Corner. We understood that this had been agreed by Cllr Mike Goodman at the Albury drop-in session on 9th February, however, it was announced at the SCC Cabinet on 23rd February, in response to a question from the campaign group, that an information meeting would be held in Guildford on 9th March 2016. This is apparently to take the form of a short presentation on the proposals, followed by a question and answer session to members of the Project board. A subsequent SCC poster states that the meeting is to ‘find out more about the changes and improvements’ at Newlands Corner. SCC and Surrey Wildlife Trust appear to be trying to make this a PR exercise and not the public consultation needed for a development of this nature.
The SCC poster also states that the online consultation for parking charges and the play structures under Phase 1 closes on 8th March, the day before the public meeting!
Our group asked a series of other questions to the SCC Cabinet on 23rd February 2016 and we will post a report on the meeting here soon. We are keeping up the pressure on your behalf!!
Save Newlands Corner 
February 26, 2016 at 10:07 pm
Yes ..! I shall be going to that Public Meeting .
Good article on the front page of the Surrey Advertiser, regarding Newlands Corner,
I particularly like the point that Susan Darling made , why was the cost of maintenance of Newlands Corner cost £157,000 compared to the £72,500 spent on the Hurtwood estate .. a much larger area. .
I also think that Kathryn Killner of the Surrey Dormouse Group also raised concern regarding when and by whom the survey would be carried out regarding the Dormice and their Habitat …
– According to Mike Goodman the Surrey County Council a survey of the Dormice population:
‘ Can only be carried out once they became active -again ~ when they come out of Hibernation ‘
(Mike Goodman at the Merrow Village Hall meeting on the 24th February )
( Which seems a bit strange .. don’t they get protection whilst they are in Hibernation ?)
LikeLike
February 27, 2016 at 2:54 pm
Great that you will be at the meeting Jochphllpsn. The Surrey Advertiser have been giving this great coverage which really helps to spread the word about these so very unpopular proposals. The figures just don’t seem to tally do they. The group raised yet more questions at the last SCC Cabinet meeting of 23rd February, including asking about the scope and scale of the surveys that would take place. I now have a copy of the questions and responses and will post the document on the site within the next hour. As you will see, the responses from SCC are not detailed nor do we feel they are adequate. We will be following all these points up again.
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 9, 2016 at 1:43 pm
I called SCC yesterday and understand the cut off date for comment is now 16 March. Maybe you are aware of this.
LikeLike
March 9, 2016 at 1:51 pm
Thank you for this Alix. I was not personally aware. I will check that others know and put up a new post. Hopefully see you later at the meeting?
LikeLike
March 11, 2016 at 4:01 pm
Hi John Phillipson
Re your questions about the surveys, SWT have done a survey of the area around the car park area relating to Phase 2 but not, as far as we know, the play trail area specifically. SCC have acknowledged the presence of dormice in the surrounding area. SWT will carry out any further surveys, as required by law.
Surveys, however, can only be done when dormice are active and, as far as I know, must be done over a whole season (April to November) to gauge the size of the population and therefore the potential impact of any development. Rest assured, dormice are protected when hibernating as much as when active, it’s just they are even more difficult to find.
LikeLike